UNILATERALISM IS OUR ONLY OPTION

By Ted Belman | 11/20/09

Last August, PM Salam Fayyad released a Plan to “establish Palestine as an independent, democratic, progressive, and modern Arab state, with full sovereignty over its territory in the West Bank and Gaza, on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.” within two years. Israel took little notice of it. In early November Haaretz reported it included a secret provision which stipulated a “unilateral declaration of... read more »

Neither a bi-national state nor a two state solution

By Ted Belman | 11/08/09

Jeffrey Goldberg interviewed Hussein Ibish the author of “What’s Wrong With the One-State Agenda?” on The Fantasy World of One-Staters. Ibish was one of the speakers at the J Street Convention. Ibish thought that the J Street tent was too big to find a consensus and it would have to create some cohesion and a central message before it could be effective. (Ibish) I mean people ranging from the sort of centrist-center... read more »

Judging Goldstone

By Ted Belman | 10/23/09

If you haven’t seen the movie Judgement at Nuremberg, you should. It was a movie of the trial of 16 Nazi Justices. One Judge in the dock, Schlegelberger, played by Burt Lancaster, was a good man who had reluctantly served the Nazi Regime until he resigned for reasons of conscience in 1942. He was found guilty. And in the end he agreed the verdict was a just one. This case is referred to by Ayal Rosenberg in GOLDSTONE : A CRITIQUE OF... read more »

IDF Did More to Safeguard Civilians Than Any Army in History of Warfare

By Ted Belman | 10/18/09

Thank you, Mr. President, I am the former commander of the British forces in Afghanistan. I served with NATO and the United Nations; commanded troops in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Macedonia; and participated in the Gulf War. I spent considerable time in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, and worked on international terrorism for the UK Government’s Joint Intelligence Committee. Mr. President, based on my knowledge and experience, I... read more »

Israel: Guilty until proven innocent

By Ted Belman | 10/11/09

The Goldstone Commission Inquiry reported that “Israel was guilty of war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity.” But I thought it was a fact finding inquiry only. The Forward reports Goldstone: ‘If This Was a Court Of Law, There Would Have Been Nothing Proven.’. WOW. What an admission. Tellingly, in an interview with the Forward on October 2, Goldstone himself acknowledged the tentative nature of his... read more »

HIKIND TO LEAD MISSION TO JUDEA AND SAMARIA

By Ted Belman | 10/05/09

“NO JEWS ALLOWED.” “JEWS NOT WELCOME.” Berlin, Germany, 1938? Selma, Alabama, 1958? Think again. How about Jerusalem, 2010? Think it can’t happen? Think again. If the current U.S. administration has its way, we may very well see these signs in the not so distant future. Dear Friend, I am writing to you about a mission I am planning that may well change the landscape of the Jewish homeland. I know how close... read more »

What are “the legitimate rights of the Palestinians”?

By Ted Belman | 10/02/09

Last week Pres Obama addressed the UNGA on the subject of the conflict between Arabs and Jews conflict and had this to say; …I will also continue to seek a just and lasting peace between Israel, Palestine, and the Arab world. What is noteworthy here, is that he referred to “Palestine” like it was a state already. Is that not pre-judging the outcome? He also wants there to be peace with the “Arab world”... read more »

The Master Plan

By Ted Belman | 09/25/09

Conventional wisdom tells us that western Europe and America are pressing Israel for concessions in order to placate the Arabs. In my recent article Israel can and must act in her own best interests. I wrote: Shortly thereafter (1938) Ben Gurion made his case to Malcolm MacDonald, the Colonial Secretary, who suggested, that the Arab and Muslim world could rise up and threaten the British Empire and therefore to prevent this, Britain had... read more »

Why have a forced marriage?

By Ted Belman | 09/23/09

Sultan Knish suggests Why Israel is Losing the Military and Media Wars The answer is simple enough. Defensive PR, like defensive warfare, never works. And Israeli PR and Israeli warfare has been on the defensive for decades now. If you break down Israel’s message to a single sentence, it’s “We didn’t do any of the things we’re accused of.” That is the kind of message you expect to hear from criminal... read more »

Israel is not guilty as charged

By Ted Belman | 09/17/09

REUTERS REPORTS ON THE GOLDSTONE REPORT JUST RELEASED TODAY “The mission concluded that actions amounting to war crimes, and possibly in some respects crimes against humanity, were committed by the Israel Defence Force,” U.N. investigator Richard Goldstone told reporters. In response, Israel’s diplomatic mission in Geneva issued a statement that criticized Goldstone’s mission and explained why Israel did... read more »